Wrist watch support



Nov. 25, 1952 J. FOSTER WRIST WATCH SUPPORT Filed May 15, 1950 Patented Nov. 25, 1952 WRIST WATCH SUPPORT John Foster, London, England Application May 15, 1950, Serial No. 162,124 In Great Britain September 6, 1949 1 Claim.

The present invention relates to wrist-watch bracelets adapted to be clipped on to the wrist.

The present invention provides a simplified form of bracelet comprising a continuous clip for embracing the wrist and arcuate strip-like watch-engaging members held by retaining members to the clip so as to be slidable towards and away from one another around the clip between the clip and the retaining members which are secured to the clip by members, preferably rivets, which pass through slots in the slidable members.

Preferably the retaining members are secured by separate rivets to the clip through fixed distance pieces which are arranged in the said slots and serve as guides for said slidable members. The distance pieces may be made of arcuate form of a thickness exceeding that of the slidable members or of the parts thereof which underlie and move under the retaining members so that in swaging over the ends of the rivets the distance pieces take the thrust between the retaining members and the clip and not the slidable members leaving these members free for sliding movement, although preferably under yielding restraint as is hereinafter referred to. The distance pieces are preferably pieces separate from the clip and the retaining members, although they could be a part of or attached to either retaining members or to the clip prior to assembly of one to the other.

The retaining members preferably take the form of arcuate bands which extend lengthwise of and cover the slots in the slidable members.

The desired yielding restraint of the said slidable members during displacement and the subsequent frictional retention thereof, may be achieved by securing the said slidable members elastically between the retaining members and the clip, e. g., by energising elastically the arcuate retaining bands during assembly so that they press yieldingly on the slidable members, or by elastically energising the said slidable members during assembly so that they press yieldingly on the retaining bands or on the clip.

The watch-engaging ends of said slidable members may be hooked to receive the attach ment bars of the watch and if necessary subsequently closed to an eye form. Or one or each of the said members may be merely bent outwards at the watch-engaging end and after passing between the watch attachment bar and the watch casing rolled round and set into hook or eye form. The hooks may be divided by open-ended slots or slits into a plurality of separate teeth or prongs to facilitate closing them around said bar. They may even be spread apart or closed towards one another somewhat with the aid of a suitable tool, and if desired whilst heated, to suit the length of the attachment bar of the watch and the better to locate the watch in position in the bracelet. The slits or slots may terminate in circular enlargements to facilitate splaying the prongs apart or closing them towards one another without unduly stressing the metal.

In order that the invention may be the more clearly understood, reference is hereinafter made to the accompanying drawings, illustrating one form of bracelet according to the invention by way of example, and in which- Fig. 1 is an enlarged sectional elevation. Fig. 2 an end view.

Fig. 3 is a sectional View on a still larger scale of one leg of the bracelet and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one leg of the bracelet.

The metal clip I is a continuous band and two generally similar arcuate strip-like watch engaging members 2 are held by retaining members 3in the form of arcuate bands to the clip so as to be slidable towards and away from one another around the clip between the clip and the retaining members which are secured to the clip by rivets 4 which pass through slots 5 in the slidable members.

Separate distance pieces 6, preferably of soft brass, are arranged in the said slots and serve as guides for the said slidable members, the rivets passing through holes 3a in the retaining members and aligned holes 6a in these distance pieces and fixing the retaining members and the distance pieces to the clip. Thrust between the retaining bands 3 and the clip during the swaging of the unheaded ends of the rivets is taken by these distance pieces, which are of a thickness exceeding that of the slidable members, for example the former being of 20-24 gauge metal and the latter of 28-30 gauge metal. The arcuate retaining band may be also of 20-24 gauge metal. The clip may be of 20-24 gauge metal.

The arcuate bands 3 cover the slots in the said slidable members 2, being in length and width considerably less than that of the slidable members and the latter are held elastically between the retaining bands and the clip so as to react frictionally therebetween during displacement. This may be done by appropriately choosing the initial curvature of the arcuate retaining members so that they will be elastically energised to cause their ends to press yieldingly on the slidable members and/or by choosing the initial curvature of the slidable members 2 so that they will be fixed elastically during assembly and will press on the clip or on the retaining bands.

The watch engaging ends of the slidable members are formed with hooks I to hook round the usual attachment bars 8 on either side of the watch casing 9 and these hooks are divided by open-ended slits or slots I into a plurality of separate teeth or prongs ll. Alternatively, the said end of one or each of the slidable members may be bent outwards for passing between the corresponding bar 8 and the watch casing 9 and then rolled round into finished hook or eye form after assembly to the watch. The pronging of the hooks facilitates so rolling round the hooks.

The clip may be made of any suitable material, e. g., stainless steel, the clip being preferably of such a springy character that it can be easily sprung over the wrist yet be capable by applying suflicient contracting pressure of being subsequently circumferentially contracted and remaining set in the contracted condition. A clip of a spring stainless stamping steel of the foregoing gauge serves well. The slidable mem bers may follow the curvature of the clip as shown or the watch engaging end portions may diverge away from the clip in converging relation to each other and their hooked ends thus located in spaced relation to the clip. These members may also be of any suitable metal, preferably a spring stainless stamping steel, which allows of their watch engaging ends being bent and set in the bent condition.

The medial portion of the clip underlying the back face of the watch casing may be made flat or curved over a larger radius than the main part of the clip and if desired made narrower or wider than the main part. Such portion may be padded. The free ends l2 of the clip may be given a slight local reverse curvature to provide a lead in springing the clip over the wrist.

The clip may as shown be generally of oval form and applied in line with the major axis of the wrist cross section and then turned through approximately into normal position.

What I claim is:

A wrist watch supporting bracelet comprising a continuous band-like clip for embracing the wrist, arcuate strip-like watch-engaging members having slots, arcuate distance pieces arranged in said slots, retaining members covering said slots and rivets which pass through said distance pieces and secure the retaining members and said distance pieces to the clip, the watch-engaging members being slidable towards and away from one another around the clip and said distance pieces being of a thickness exceeding that of at least the portions of said watch-engaging members which are movable under said retaining members and forming elongated guides for said watch-engaging members.

JOHN FOSTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date D. 139,596 Preas Dec. 5, 1944 D. 143,816 Flatau Feb. 12', 1946 1,310,859 Eklund July 22, 1919 2,455,796 Myer, Sr Dec. 7, 1948 2,469,532 Truckenmiller May 10, 1949 2,491,592 Turpin Dec. 20, 1949 2,494,985 Campbell Jan. 17, 1950 2,499,884 Singleton Mar. '7, 1950 2,532,161 Gomberg Nov. 28, 1950 

